Louise Moore room dedication

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4/23/2012

Multimedia lab dedicated in honor of Daily faculty adviser

Beloved for her inspiring teaching and mentorship, the late legendary Oklahoma Daily faculty adviser Louise B. Moore was honored April 21 by her former students during a special ceremony to dedicate the Louise B. Moore Multimedia Lab in Gaylord Hall.

The lab’s naming is the result of a fundraising effort spearheaded by five former Daily editors: Carol J. Robinson Burr, Linda Johnson, Barbara Winn Sessions, Larry Chilnick and Karen Vinyard Waddell. Burr, Johnson and Sessions each spoke at the ceremony.

“Some of her most devoted students got together and have generously given of their resources to make this room a living tribute to her and her work for generations of students to come,” said Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote during the dedication.

Carol Burr, a 1959 OU journalism graduate, said the campaign’s committee members not only received gifts in honor of Mrs. Moore, but also heartfelt letters from former students detailing how she affected their lives.

“I can tell you how grateful I am, all of us are, for an editor with the skills and integrity of Louise Moore – grateful for her example as a working journalist who came back to the college to teach and for her big influence on our careers as students and as professionals,” said Sessions, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from OU in 1968 and 1971, respectively.

Linda Johnson, a 1967 OU journalism graduate, added, “Without Mrs. Moore, this school would not be what it is today.”

Moore earned a bachelor’s degree in English from OU, where she decided she wanted to be a journalist and worked on The Oklahoma Daily. After completing her degree at OU, she earned a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. Moore worked as a reporter and taught school in Oklahoma City and later worked her way up to the position of city editor of the newspaper in Brownsville, Texas. She returned to Norman in 1952 as faculty supervisor of The Oklahoma Daily, serving in that position for 19 years.

Moore’s daughter, Lou Moore Hale, sculpted a bust of her mother, which stands sentinel at the entrance to the lab, keeping a watchful eye on future journalism professionals and encouraging them to uphold the standards of the profession.

“She was a friend, but also that figure who was so important to ensuring we kept our balance and our feet on the ground,” said Teresa Black, a 1971 and 1974 OU graduate and former Daily editor who currently serves as an assistant U.S. attorney in Oklahoma City.

“She had such a tremendous impact. Just look at all the people she affected,” Black continued, pointing at the dedication’s attendees. “She played a big part in their careers.”

(Pictured: Lou Moore Hale, daughter of Louise B. Moore, sculpted a bust of her mother for the new Louise B. Moore Multimedia Lab in Gaylord Hall. She stands with Jim O’Dell from the foundry in Wilson, Okla., that cast the bust.)